I don't see anything wrong with the garlic. In my opinion they may have got bigger if left in the ground longer. I don't pull mine till at least 1/3 to 1/2 of the leaves are dead. This lets the bulb size reach the maximum or close to it. When to pull the garlic isn't an exact science. Yours will be ok. Just for larger bulbs you might leave it longer. Jay

Tigerdawn,
One other thought I had and forgot to add. If I understood you right this garlic grew from bulbs missed last year. If so was some of the plants very close together? Usually I'm told when you don't split bulbs into cloves the plants will be very close together. And the bulbs will be smaller. You can still eat them. Or if you desire you can replant them this fall and they will form bigger bulbs next year. What variety or varieties are they? I've had some elephant garlic fail to form cloves the first year I grew it. When replanted it formed nice big cloves. Just some more thoughts I had. Jay

Thanks Jay. They were very close together. All I know is that it is elephant garlic. I don't know if there are varieties of that or not.

After reading here, I decided that I should check out my elephant garlic because the stems were no longer green, at all. It is nice but no larger than the garlic I buy @ the grocery. It is about the same size as the bulb I planted. The regular garlic only produced a few single cloves. Could have been shallots, but I planted purple skinned & the ones I found were white-ish.

Just re-read & now wondered if the bulbs I purchase should be broken into cloves prior to planting? Those tiny clove sized pieces like the ones in the photo--Should I just replant them now or do they need to dry & cure?

Ksokegonnab,
Yes the bulbs should be broken apart and the individual cloves planted 8-10 inches apart. Anyway that is the spacing I use.

Assuming you are somewhere in OK or southern KS anytime in Oct would be the best time. With that being said I planted mine in Dec and Jan this year and got good results. Most say not to plant any earlier than late Sept. here. Then again I've seen bulbs and cloves left in the ground do good. Especially if they are cloves that got separated from the bulb and not spaced too close. I dry mine for at least 2 weeks. In this heat and wind even under the carport in 2 weeks they are dry enough. Then store in a cool and preferably dark spot.

I will be posting some pictures of some that I've pulled later in the day.

Tigerdawn I think there is only one variety of Elephant garlic but different strains. I got one sent to me last fall to try from a grower in CO. By far the biggest Elephant strain I've grown. A lot more size than the strain I've been growing. So far with a few more to dig the bulbs are going 4 1/4" or more. Looks like all should weigh a pound or more after drying.

After they dry if you peel the skin back you will see individual cloves. Then just separate them and plant each clove separately. I have seen Elephant garlic that didn't split into cloves. If it don't you can either use it or plant the one big solid bulb and it will usually split into cloves the next year. Jay